Chapter Text
A series of kidnappings haunted New York. It was mostly children. Orphans. Homeless kids. Children who lived in the slums. People who kept to the shadow, and who wouldn’t easily be noticed, or missed. People with no documents, so there was no reason to waste time or money on finding them. People who’d give out a single deafening yelp before going quiet. People who wouldn’t necessarily struggle. People who, simply put, had no one at home waiting for them. Easy targets. No one noticed they were gone. No one even noticed they were there in the first place. If word did not go around, no one would even know they were gone. With no one to look out for the little guy, they were simply nothing more but a prey. A clog in the machine. A pawn in a game of chess they never consented to playing in the first place. With no one to care for them, they were but another stone on the graveyard, with only the word unknown carved on top of it.
That’s how Peter Stark found himself at night. FRIDAY softly reading out the articles as Peter wrote the details down. Name. Time. Place. He carefully put down a little red x on the map, indicating the place as he tried to figure out a connection between all of the kidnappings. Thus far, they were nothing but random. They didn’t stick to one target demographic, nor a single district they operated in. The only thing that Peter noticed, is that it weren’t people who would be easily missed, so to speak.
“Peter, your father is approaching.” The AI warned him. Peter cussed underneath his breath as he tried to hide his map, but it was all in vain. His father had already swung open the door, noticing that Peter was not in his bed but instead wide awake scribbling something down. Tony raised a questioning eyebrow at the boy, who only gave a mere sheepish smile back. “Hi dad.” Peter waved, Tony curiously peeked closer to his work as he stepped inside.
“I thought your mom sent you to bed 3 hours ago?” Tony asked. Peter nodded. “Oh she did. I’ve been in my room for 3 hours!” Peter grimaced, showing a thumbs up to his father who was now standing in front of the map. Eyes shooting from the holographic missing people reports to the x’s drawn all over. “What have you got here Pete?” Tony wondered out loud. The question, of course, was nothing but rhetorical. Tony could easily draw his own conclusions himself.
“People have gone missing for nearly a year now and no one seems to care.” Peter pointed out, giving the hologram a big swipe to the right as all of the articles shot to the side, going all the way back to the first person to have gone missing. Peter pointed at the date, Tony’s eyes followed as he took control of the hologram. “How many people?” He asked. “At least 30. Recorded ones, that is. The kidnappers mostly tend to slums. Orphans. People in the system who are deemed as troublesome and wouldn’t easily be marked as missing. The real number may very well be much higher than this.” Peter said, balancing slightly on the balls of his feet as he spoke. He had hoped that, out of all the people in the world, his dad may be able to do something about it. Tony seemed to ponder it, if only for a moment.
“FRI, send me all of the reports. Let me see what I can do.” Tony said, Peter beamed up at the response. “So you’ll take care of this, right?” He said hopefully. Tony nodded. “Of course. I’ll send this to Pirate and let him and his minions handle the rest.” Tony said as he looked back at the map Peter had made, snapping a quick picture of his son’s work. “You’ll let the government handle this?” Peter spat out in sheer disbelief. Now, don’t get him wrong. Peter is not entirely against the government. Just against the way they tend to handle most of their issues. Which is, frankly put, all of their issues. Tony nodded as he gave Peter a pat on the shoulder.
“Listen Roo. You did great work here. Finding all of that. Digging through those files. Marking the locations. But this is… not exactly an Avengers level threat. Do you get me?” Tony asked, looking Peter in the eyes. His son squinted his eyes as he stared back. “Don’t give me that glance. I basically invented that one. I’m just saying. Even if we did get the Avengers on this, it would simply draw too much attention. It’d put everyone on high alert and may end up hurting the victims more. Trust me as I say I’d also rather handle it myself than let S.H.I.E.L.D handle anything. But sometimes you gotta see when to give something up.” Tony preached. All Peter did was roll his eyes as he took a step back from his father.
“I can’t believe you.” Peter spat out in sheer disbelief. “There are people missing. Children. And you have the ability to do something. Yet, you don’t seem to care.” Peter said, crossing his arms in front of his chest as his dad began to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. In Tony Stark’s opinion, it was too early, or late, depending on perspective, to be arguing with his son about this. “Listen, Pete. I promise I will do my best to check it out tomorrow. If you want to, we can even call Pirate together. Let him know your thoughts and stuff.” Tony insisted. Peter rolled his eyes again, letting out a huff at his father. Deep down, Peter knew that arguing wouldn’t help his case.
Despite his father being a great man, having supported him since the day he was born, he was also a stubborn asshole when it came to certain aspects. Sure, his dad would never turn him down or tell him that he’s just imagining things. He would take the time out of his busy schedule to actually listen to what Peter has to say and think about solutions together with him, but when he did not see it fit for him he wouldn’t do it. Such as now. While, yes, the kidnappings Peter had found may have a connection. Iron Man would not bust out the suit in order to save the victims. And sure, Peter could see why. The suit was way more equipped for alien invasions, fighting gods or evil wizards and whatnot instead of a gang of kidnappers, but he was still a superhero. And superheroes save people. Whether it’s below their pay grade or not.
“Fine.” Peter mumbled, averting his gaze from his dad as he swiped the holograms away. “Hey, bambino. Don’t tell me it’s fine when it’s not. Promise me that you’ll drop this. This will get handled. Just not by my 14 years old asthmatic son. Deal?” Tony said, firmly grabbing Peter by both of his shoulders. The boy slumped down a little before nodding, Tony gave his son a gentle smile as he carefully took off his glasses. Peter didn’t have it in him to argue that he hadn’t had an asthma attack in a while now. “Now, let’s get you to bed! You got school in a few hours, and your mom will kill me if she finds out I let you stay up until 2 in the morning.” Tony said, turning his son a 180 degrees in order to face his bed, gently nudging him towards it. “Fine.” Peter grumbled, trying his best to suppress an incoming yawn. Tony did not try his best to suppress his cocky grin as he got his son to bed.
“When you’re older and wiser you can stay up this late. For now, let’s stick to your bedtime. Alright?” Tony whispered, dimming the lights in the room. “Mm mm. I’m already smarter than you anyway.” Peter mumbled as he snuggled in his bed, all Tony did was ruffle his curly hair before planting a soft kiss on his son’s forehead. “Good night Pete.” Tony whispered. Peter mumbled something inaudible, but Tony had a fairly good guess on what it could be anyway.
As morning strode by, dark bags began to form underneath Peter’s eyes, clearly visible as he was munching on his cornflakes at the dinner table. His mom shot him a questioning look as she looked up from her Starkpad, but didn’t question it at all. His dad somehow looked even worse than Peter did. Pepper shot him another questioning look, but also didn’t comment on it. “Your father and I have a meeting tonight, it’ll probably take a while. You can order in if you’d like.” Pepper announced shortly after, earning a loud groan from Tony and a slight smirk from Peter. “Don’t give me that. I told you yesterday. Just because you don’t listen doesn’t mean I didn’t tell you.” Pepper rolled her eyes at her husband. Tony pouted, but Pepper was skill fully ignoring him.
“You got everything for today Peter?” She asked while clearing up the dinner table, making sure her son was alright as he put his bowl in the dishwasher. Peter nodded. “Yea, don’t worry mom. I’m not a kid anymore.” Peter huffed, his mom gently smiled as she kissed his head. “I know honey. Doesn’t mean I can’t make sure you’re alright.” She grinned against his head, missing up his hair a little and earning an exasperated “Mom!” in return. “Happy’s downstairs already. Better grab your bag and head to school now.” Tony said, Peter sighed as he walked over towards his backpack, dragging his feet along as he went over towards the elevator.
“You know you don’t have to struggle through high school, right? Just scream and I’ll get you in appropriate college level classes.” His father reminded him, like a nearly weekly routine. Peter just grinned. “Too bad I like high school!” Peter yelled back. “See you tonight, Peter Parker!” Tony yelled back as the elevator doors closed. Because as the elevator started to bring him down to the garage level, Peter Stark was becoming Peter Parker. His government issued fake ID, since sometimes, the government was useful for something. To the outside world, Peter Stark didn’t exist. To the outside world, he was Peter Parker. Born and raised in Queens by his aunt May and uncle Ben, family friends from his mom. While aunt May and uncle Ben did indeed exist, Peter did not live with them. He only sees them from time to time. But when he does, they treat him just like family.
Happy was awaiting in the car, watching Peter spawn in the backseat not soon after, dropping his backpack next to him with a puff. “I told you. Just make your dad carry your bag.” Happy said, eyes locked in the rear view mirror as he started up the car. “And feed into his delusions that I’m nothing but helpless? No thanks.” Peter said, buckling his seatbelt. “I’m just saying. You are still getting monthly health check ups.” Happy reminded the boy, earning a roll of his eyes as Happy focused on the road. “I can’t help that I lost the genetic lottery.” Peter complained.
Besides his genius mind and near carbon copy look of his father, Peter has been struggling with his health since the day he was born. As a newborn he often caught colds, was allergic to an entire list of things, was in a constant state of shortness of breath, had the worst eyesight know to mankind, and was prone to infections. Over time he did indeed improve, but his parents were still over concerned and overbearing as a result. Thus resulting in his monthly check ups to make sure that their only son was alright.
Happy didn’t comment on Peter’s remark. They’ve gotten lost in this discussions more times than Happy would’ve liked. Peter stared out of the window, lost in his thoughts as the rest of the drive passed in silence. Happy stopped the car his mandatory 2 blocks away. “I have debate tonight. So I’m taking the subway after. Bye!” Peter said as he exited the car, giving Happy a slight wave before he could argue something back about picking him up anyway. Without waiting for another reaction, Peter began to walk away from the car, joining the stream of fellow high schoolers and disappearing into the crowd. Trying his best to hide the fact that he just lied to his uncle’s face. He, in fact, did not have debate after school. Instead, he was planning on working on his ongoing investigation, far away from the prying eyes of the AI that was embedded into the building.
School went by in a semi-breeze. At least, the first half did. Since Peter didn’t have many friends, he had more than enough time to work out his articles during lunch. That’s when a stranger suddenly took a seat on the opposite side of him. Curious eyes peeking over the brim of Peter’s folders. He barely looked up, only pushing his glasses a little higher on top of his nose. “What are you working on?” The stranger asked. Peter, like his father often did when he did not feel the need to talk to others, skilfully ignored the other boy. Usually, it worked perfectly fine. The other person would feel awkward upon being openly ignored. Shift a little uncomfortable into their seat before coughing and coming up with some sort of lame excuse before leaving again. This time, however, the stranger remained pretty persistent.
The stranger pushed his lunch tray away, leaning further across the table in order to catch a glimpse of Peter’s work. His entire upper body was now on top of the table. It was a good thing that Peter had already finished his lunch, or the stranger would’ve definitely got some of it on his sweater. “Erm, do you mind?” Peter asked, finally looking up for the first time. Classes were about to resume in less than 15 minutes, and he would like to get most of the work done by then. The stranger raised his eyebrow at the articles tucked away in the binder. Catching brief glanses of multiple papers with children on top of it. “Do you know that person?” The stranger asked. Peter merely shrugged before resuming his work. Hoping that, by not feeding into the stranger’s questions, he would leave voluntarily.
“What are the others? Are they also missing people? Are you some kind of teen detective?” The stranger asked, louder than Peter would’ve liked, earning a few curious glances shot his way. “Shh!” Peter shushed, slamming down his folder. There went his plan to finish this before the next class. He clutched the folder close to his body as he grabbed his bag. “That’s none of your business.” Peter said, storing the folder and zipping his backpack closed. “So you are some kind of teen detective. That is so cool! Do you have any leads?” The stranger asked, Peter shook his head as he got up, clearly ending the conversation earlier. “That’s classified.” Peter said, the stranger mimicked Peter’s movements, also getting up as he grabbed his own lunch tray.
“All right then. Keep your secrets. I’m Ned, by the way.” Ned introduced himself. “Peter.” Peter replied, if only out of politeness. He had been attending midtown school for science and technology for three months now, making a total of zero friends thus far. It’s mostly because Peter tended to keep to himself, only joining various clubs out of his own interest. Because he was absolutely terrible at gym and looked like a loser, especially with his glasses nearly always slipping off, people often made fun of him. At one point, the fake story of his parents having passed away went around, earning both sympathy and mischievous snickers from others. Somewhere during the past few weeks, people have even started calling him a nerd, because he spend every break by himself with his nose hidden away in books. Most of it all didn’t bother Peter, the only thing not making sense is people calling him a nerd. As if they didn’t also attend a school focused on science and technology. It only made Peter roll his eyes even more. Even if push came to shove, and the bullying started to become unbearable, Peter could always take his dad up on his offer.
The sheer fact that Peter did not make any friends yet barely bothered him in the first place. Despite enjoying high school and being among his peers, he also found it extremely tedious and boring sometimes. During some classes, he even caught himself dreaming off and sketching some new ideas for future inventions. Of course, when teachers noticed that Peter had stopped paying attention, they often called upon him. Only for him to, much to some people’s annoyance, always give a correct reply. They soon started to lay off of him a little, given the fact that Peter soon proved himself to be a straight A student anyway. And when his mother curiously asked if he made a friend yet, Peter would just tell a story he overheard during the day. It would only be embarrassing if he admitted to having trouble to make friends, especially considering the fact that he had begged his parents to let him start high school instead of sticking to homeschool.
“I’ve seen you.” Ned suddenly said, slightly startling Peter as he began to exit the cafetaria, backpack slumped against his back, nearly forcing Ned to clarify himself rapidly, albeit a little anxious. “I meant. I’ve seen you around school. Not like. In a I-know-where-you-live kind of stalker way!” Ned explained himself. Peter softly nodded. “Right.” He squeezed out. “I think we have some classes together. Back row seat, right?” Ned asked. Peter just nodded. Back row seat, right next to the door to leave as early as possible. “Cool. I always sit at the third row. In the middle.” Ned said. Peter was not sure where Ned was going with this in the first place. He was also not sure if he had ever noticed this kid in any of his classes. Then again, Peter barely looked around in his class anyway.
“We have Spanish now, right?” Ned then asked. Peter merely nodded as Ned followed him in tow. “Cool. We can maybe… sit next to each other? If you’d like?” Ned asked. Peter shrugged, and the hesitant smile on Ned’s face began to grow. “Alright! That’s fixed then.” Ned smiled. “So, Peter. What do you like to do in your free time?” Ned asked as he walked into the classroom, taking one seat next to Peter’s regular seat. “I like building stuff.” Peter said vaguely. With stuff, of course, he meant high tech gadgets. Iron Man suits, new inventions for Stark Industries, and whatnot. Ned’s eyes sparked up. “Like Lego?” He asked, nearly bouncing up and down in his seat. Peter nodded. He liked being busy with his hands, having finished a few Lego sets already and had displayed them in his room. “Me too!” Ned smiled.
“Hey look! Penis finally made a friend! And it’s the other loser!” Flash laughed together with his friends as he walked into the classroom. Peter simply ignored them, but Ned looked at them with gigantic eyes. Of course, the other boy had noticed that people were bullying Peter for some reason. At first, Ned thought it was because Peter was an orphan, but the boy had soon ruled that option out. Thus far, Ned hadn’t dared to do anything about it in fear of also becoming a target. Peter simply shook his head. “Just ignore them.” He said, taking out his already filled in Spanish book as Ned looked at it. “Did you buy this book from someone?” Ned asked, noticed that it looked worn down already. Flash overheard, snickering and calling him a broke boy with a louder than whisper voice, with the obvious intent of Peter catching ear of it.
“I was just bored.” Peter explained, without asking first Ned took over the textbook, going through all of the pages in lightning speed. “How do you know all of this?” Ned asked, handing the textbook back as Peter took his folder with the files out too. “I learned some Spanish as a child.” Peter lied. Saying that he was fluent in most languages would have been a bit over the top. He didn’t want to scare Ned away, even if he still replied too stiffly to the other boy. “That’s crazy.” Ned said as he peeked over Peter’s binder again.
“So, mister teen detective, what are you working on?” Ned asked, Peter glanced around. Class was about to begin in a minute, and no one was paying attention to them anymore. “Just trying to connect some dots.” Peter said, showing Ned the map he had created without saying anything else. He wasn’t sure why he was even showing this in the first place. After all, he had only met the guy not even half an hour ago. Hell, Peter didn’t even know the guy’s last name, let alone anything else about him. And yet, Peter trusted him. Ned raised an eyebrow at the little crosses scattered around. “I may be seeing things, but these are all nearby metro stations.” Ned remarked, Peter raised an eyebrow as he looked at the places. And surely enough, Ned was right. Peter traced the x’s with his finger, Ned’s eyes following his every move.
“Welcome class! If you could all open your textbook at page 86.” The teacher said, ruffles of paper and zipped open backpacks echoed through the class. Peter ignored them, and Ned was too absorbed in whatever Peter was doing to go to the correct page. “This is the old metro station.” Peter whispered, taking out a marker and colouring the x in yellow. He continued to move on. “This station is out of service.” He whispered, marked the x too. “The old lines again.” Peter said, marking five more places in yellow. He looked at his map, noticing that they ran all the way from Staten Island through Queens, continuing in Manhattan. Ned leaned forward. “Looks like you need more cases.” He said, shooting his eyes towards the blackboard and finally opening his textbook to the right pages. “I can help you look. After class.” Ned offered, Peter nodded absentmindedly. His fingers and brain itching for more clues.
The rest of the afternoon passed by in a bore. Only filled with some small talk during classes as Ned continued to whisper to Peter throughout them all. It turned out that he and Ned shared an awful lot of classes together, making sure they were both on their merry way as soon as the final bell rang. “Oh god, this is so exciting!” Ned wheezed as they walked towards the library. Peter did his best to avoid any windows, fearing that a very unhappy Happy may spawn at any given moment. If Ned even noticed Peter’s strange behaviour, he didn’t comment on it. “So! What can you tell me about your articles? Who are they? What connects them? Why are you looking into that?” Ned asked, shooting question after question at Peter. “Erm. I don’t know you well enough to tell you. I only agreed to look for more cases with you. I don’t want to drag you down with me.” Peter excused himself. Ned shook his head.
“Don’t worry dude! I’m your guy in the chair! I can look for articles without needing the details!” Ned reassured him, Peter sent a questioning look towards Ned who merely just grinned. “My what now?” Peter asked confused. “The guy in the chair! You know. The one who keeps track of everything while you go and fight crime! Like an Avenger!” Ned grinned. Peter just let out a bitter laugh. Him, as a superhero, Peter laughed bitterly to himself, don’t make me laugh. Even with one of his dad’s suits on it wouldn’t make him a superhero. Despite having his heart at the right place, Peter doubted that he’d have the nerve to actually fight it. He’s always been a nervous wreck whenever conflict dared to break out. His mouth always acted before his mind could catch up with anything else, often worsening the entire situation. His dad always proudly announced that that little trait of Peter’s came from him, always smooth responses with witty remarks. Peter just shoved it down to his AUDHD.
“I am not an Avenger.” Peter pointed out as they turned the corridor of the library. “I’m not saying you are. Just that you could be one. Imagine how cool that would be, a teenage superhero!” Ned said with excitement. “Or stupid.” Peter whispered. If he suddenly decided to become a superhero and take this entire kidnapping scheme down, he was pretty sure he’d get an earful of his father. Then his mother. Then his aunts. And his uncles.
Ned hadn’t heard the last remark as they entered the library. Customary like the class seatings, Ned picked a place at the far back, booting up the computers. “So what are you looking for, exactly?” Ned asked as he opened Google. Peter did the same. “Kidnappings cases in New York, out of New York. Mostly children and teenagers. I’ve found some dating back to 2014, but I’m not sure if some older cases are connected too. Try maybe 2012 as a jumping point?” Peter asked. Perhaps he had spilled too much about his investigation, but the happily chatting boy had grown quiet as he began to look for articles and selecting possible sources. Peter noticed his demeanour shift entirely.
After a while, Ned spoke up. “I forwarded some to you. Are any of these useful?” Ned whispered, after a few seconds he got a new email from Ned, Peter checked the articles one by one. They were indeed useful, and with a black pen Peter marked more x’s on his map, referring to cases from 2013. With a blue pen he marked the places from 2012. Some even happened at the same places as 2014, he noticed. All ran across metro lines. And surely enough, they ran across various districts too. “Can you find any from before 2012?” Peter whispered. If he got solid evidence of these kidnappings happening for multiple years, surely enough it would be an Avengers level threat. Ned hummed as he began to type, looking for even more cases.
“Less than five per year. I’m not sure if these are worth it.” Ned whispered after a while, Peter scooted a bit closer, pencil in hand as he looked at the articles. “Where are they located?” He asked, Ned replied. Since these were less precise, Peter only drew a circle at the spots. A few cases were not connected by the metro lines, while others were. Same location as more recent incidents. “Okay. This is good. Thanks Ned!” Peter whispered, Ned grinned back at him. “What are you gonna do with all of this?” Ned then asked as he rolled his chair back. “I know someone who can handle this. I just needed more evidence first.” Peter said, Ned’s eyes sparkled.
“Like an actual detective?” Ned grinned, Peter shrugged. “Sorta.” He lied. He honestly admired Ned for sticking with the detective trope, Peter assumed that that was easier to believe than knowing the actual Avengers in the first place. “That is so cool. I wish I knew any detectives!“ Ned sighed, eyes darting over to Peter’s map again. “I know it may not be my place. But please don’t go to these locations by yourself. All of these cases involve young people.” Ned nearly begged, Peter waved the begging away. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not stupid!” Peter declared. Ned only shot him a side eye as both boys turned off their computers.
“It’s getting late. My lola is probably wondering where I am.” Ned said, looking at the time on his phone. Peter noticed his lockscreen and lit up a little. “Hey! Star Wars!” He exclaimed, Ned nodded excitedly. “Man, how come I only find out you like Star Wars when I’m about to leave?” Ned sighed, zipping up his backpack as he was about to leave. “Are you taking the metro to get home too?” Ned asked as Peter packed his bags too. “Yea. I didn’t wanna other my uncle to pick me up without knowing when I’ll be done.” Peter said, Ned nodded as they both got up from their seats. “Me too! Which way do you need to go?” Ned asked, leaving the library side by side with Peter as they began to walk towards the metro station. “Manhattan.” Peter said, Ned grimaced. “That’s a pain to go by metro.” Ned sighed. “I have to go the opposite way.” Ned said, Peter nodded as he scanned his metro card. Not soon after, he could feel his phone buzz in his pocket. Undoubtedly his father cussing his stubbornness out for taking the metro instead of calling Happy.
“Well. See you tomorrow.” Ned said as they were about to part ways for the first time since they met this afternoon. Peter gave an awkward goodbye wave, putting on his hood as he waited for the metro to arrive. In the meantime, he fished out his phone from his pocket. Surely enough, his dad had indeed texted him.
Fathership
The metro? Seriously?
Peter
Didn’t want to bother happy!
Fathership
He literally gets paid so you can bother him but ok.
Peter
Shouldn’t u focus on the meeting?
Fathership
So boring
I just want to make sure my precious son is safe on the metro
I’ve read your articles and sent them to fury btw. Said he’ll look into it
I’d rather have that you don’t take the metro anymore
Sketchy ass shit
Peter
That’s why u gotta do something about it
Fathership
U know I don’t get say in things like these. If I could, I would
Peter
So what’s stopping you?
His father stopped texting back, Peter assumed his mother had something to do with all of it. Peter put his phone back at the moment the metro arrived, putting on his headphones as he got on. With the music filling his head, the 42 minute ride went by in a flash. From there on, he only needed to walk 15 more minutes towards the tower. As Peter was walking home, he suddenly heard a very loud yell down the street. Peter’s eyes widened, someone was in danger. His eyes scanned the nearby area, there was barely anyone around. He couldn’t just stand around and ignore it, he’d never be able to forgive himself. So, without wasting another second, Peter ran over towards the source.
“Hey! Leave her alone!” Peter yelled on the top of his lungs, noticing a crying woman on her knees, begging for her life. Her clothes were dirty and jarred, and Peter hated to imagine what could have happened if he hadn’t interrupted it. The culprit froze in his tracks, turned around on his heels, and looked at Peter with big eyes before erupting in laughter. “Thank god your saviour is here! A 12 years old boy!” The culprit laughed, diverting his attention away again as he ignored Peter. “Hey! I’m 14!” Peter squeaked, voice higher than usual, he picked a random piece of trash from the ground and threw it at the culprit. Except, he couldn’t throw anything to save his life. The trash landed a miserable few feet away from him, the heroic act crashed in shambles. The culprit laughed again as he stepped closer towards the woman.
“You heard the kid. Step away.” Another voice interrupted. Deeper. More stern. More capable. Both Peter and the culprit’s head whipped around, looking at no one else but Daredevil. A local vigilante who, for once, was not so local. The culprit, upon seeing Daredevil, then decided that it wasn’t worth the trouble anymore and he quickly ran away. Daredevil went on to comfort the woman and make sure she was okay before seeing her off. Turned out she lived nearby, and both Peter and Daredevil waited until she safely entered her house.
“That took real courage kid. Nice work. But never do that again.” Daredevil warned Peter, the boy just shrugged. “If I didn’t distract him, he would’ve hurt her more. Someone’s gotta step up and do what’s right.” Peter reasoned out loud. The vigilante nodded, giving Peter a soft nudge in the back. “Let’s see you get home too now. I’ll walk you home, just in case you run into more trouble.” Daredevil explained, leaving no room for argumentation from the young boy. “No need! My dad will pick me up in 3… 2… 1…” Peter said, confusing the vigilante at his odd behaviour. But, surely enough, a more mechanical heartbeat joined in as soon as the boy had spoken. And out came Tony Stark.
“Daredevil.” Tony nodded, just a sign of respect for the vigilante for keeping his son safe. “I assume you can keep a secret identity?” Tony winked playfully, Daredevil nodded. “You can count on me.” The vigilante reassured. “C’mon Pete, let’s get you home now.” Tony said, stretching out one arm for Peter to crawl under. The boy happily obliged as Tony took over his backpack. “Thanks double D! See you around!” Peter said happily, waving goodbye to the vigilante. “Stay safe you two.” Daredevil nodded his head, listening how the father and son turned around to walk home. “Never make such terrible jokes to masked vigilantes again dad! Do you know how cringe that was?” Peter groaned, Tony merely laughed as he messed his son’s hair up. Peter quickly attempted to fix it before giving up, only to happily start chatting about his day. A soft smile began to creep on Daredevil’s face as he listened to Peter happily chat. He never knew that the billionaire playboy philanthropist was a father, nor that he had a heart.
Back when they arrived at the tower and found themselves in the elevator going upstairs, Peter brought up his investigation again. “I dug through more articles dad.” Peter mentioned, his father glanced at him. “What you got?” He curiously asked, Peter began to beam at his father. “All of the kidnappings took place near the old metro lines. I assume that there may be underground tunnels connecting them. They run all through New York and have started since 2012, at least from what I have found. I’m not sure if the same can be said in other states or not.” Peter unleashed his words. Tony merely hummed. “Show me what you got after dinner. Let’s call Fury about this together, alright?” Tony asked, Peter enthusiastically nodded.
When they arrived at their floor, the air was filled with a delicious fragrance of homemade food. “There are my boys.” Pepper smiled as she saw the elevator doors open. “Hey again. This little punk decided to take the metro today without telling us. You know your old man has a heart condition, right? You can’t just do shit like that.” Tony joked around, but his wishes were clear enough. “Yea yea, whatever. It’s not like I got kidnapped.” Peter joked around, earning a warning look from his father as the half hearted joke passed by his mother.
“Go wash up. Dinner’s ready.” She said, Peter happily obeyed as his dad watched him go to the bathroom. “I swear, that kid is going to be the dead of me.” Tony sighed as he sat down. “You know how he willingly inserted himself in a near rape case today?” Tony dramatically draped himself across the table as Pepper set the table. “Well, we have always taught him to stand up for what he believes in. He has his heart in the right place.” Pepper reasoned. “I know, Pep. I’m proud of him, believe me, I am! But I don’t want anything to happen to our boy. Whenever I look at him, I see a more reckless version of me in him. Do you know how terrifying that is?” Tony whined, Pepper drew soothing circles across his back as she gave him a peck on the cheek. “So do I. Imagine how I feel seeing two Tony’s.” Pepper whispered, just as Peter returned. He oddly eyed his parents being nearly glued to each other as he took place at the dinner table. As he took his food, he asked how the meeting had gone. Pepper easily took the word, telling in great detail about the deal as Peter chimed in some suggestions and opinions. Pepper noted them down, saying how he had made some excellent points. “Next time we’ll call in sick to school so you can join the meeting. Would finish it much faster too than this slow poke over here.” Pepper said, she had just put her dishes away as she gave Tony another kiss as she casually insulted her husband. “Hey now?” Tony said, mock offence dripped in his voice. She just smiled as she took place again, actively involving Peter im the process of the post meeting debriefing. While Peter actively engaged with it, Tony seemed to have no problem tuning them both out as he finished up his dinner too.
When Peter had given all of his ideas and Pepper seemed satisfied enough, she closed her notebook and Tony heaved an exhausted sigh as he suppressed a yawn, earning a warning glare from his wife. Tony just shrugged. “You know things like this bore me to death Pep. I’d much rather tinker down in my lab than work out stuff like that.” Tony sighed, putting both his and Peter’s plate away. Peter quietly thanked him as Tony signalled him up. “Talking about lab, let’s go down Pete.” Tony smiled, Peter enthusiastically nodded. “Don’t forget your homework!” Pepper reminded him, Peter just gave a thumbs up. “I finished everything already! Bye!” He said as he got up and walked with his father back towards the elevator, his mother waved back, absorbed in her Starkpad as she began to type away.
“Good job back there. But next time, do it when I’m not there. You’re making me look bad!” Tony joked around, softly nudging Peter in his side as the boy rolled his eyes at his father. “You don’t need my help for that. You’re perfectly capable of doing that on your own.” Peter laughed, his father rolled his eyes too with a huff. “You better keep talking that smooth in front of the pirate. I’m thinking of letting you do all the talking as I sit back and relax.” Tony grinned. “So, like always?” Peter sighed, pretending to hate the idea as he crossed his arms. In reality, he has called director Fury a few times already. Mostly whenever Tony didn’t want to be bothered, or if he wanted to get out of a mission. Usually it worked, because Fury had a hard time refusing Peter’s pleas.
The father and son got down to the lab, once settled down Tony made FRIDAY call Fury. After a few rings he picked up, and a hologram of his face appeared in front of them. “Stark. It’s nearly 10 pm. What are you calling me for again.” Fury groaned, judging by his background, he was still in his office. “Hi uncle Fury!” Peter waved, and Fury’s hard expression softened a little. “Peter.” He said, the hint of a smile played behind his eyes. “Dad said he called you today about my investigation!” Peter chimed, Fury nodded. “He has mentioned it, yes.” Fury replied. Peter widely grinned, pushing his glasses up a little as he did so.
“I dug some more and found cases dating back to 2012, although they’re pretty slim. It significantly increases from 2013 with a peak at 2014. Some places even cross each other throughout these years. They mostly pass down the old metro area’s, with some being out of use or under construction. Although my research is limited to just New York, the cases are all similar in demographic too. I’m also pretty confident that if we run the files over more states they’re also crossing these metro lines.” Peter yapped in one breath, Fury glared at Tony who was leaning all the at back in his seat. “And you found all of this?” Fury asked, Peter nodded. “I remembered seeing missing children posters a while back, and they continued for months at various places too, so I began to look into it. I also assume that a lot of kids weren’t given up as missing, so the actual victim count is probably much higher.” Peter reasoned out loud. Fury nodded at the information.
“I see. It’s good that you did your research. I noted your findings down. Forward me all of your data, and I’ll see to it.” Fury said, Peter moved slightly uncomfortable on his chair. “Erm. Not that I’m criticising you, but I am, but aren’t you guys too slow with all of this?” Peter said, mouth working faster than his brain. Tony grinned at his son like a proud father as he glanced back at Fury. If Tony had said something like that, the older man would’ve definitely been flamed already. But with Peter, it was slightly different. “Don’t underestimate my men, Stark. You’ve done your share, and I’ll do mine. I suggest you further stay out of this for your own good. Is there anything else you’d like to share?” Fury asked, Peter bit down hard on his lip as he shook his head. “That’s all.” He said, Fury nodded.
“Good work Peter. Stark, keep an eye on your son.” Fury said, without even as much as a goodbye he shut down the video call. Peter heaved a big sigh as he turned his chair around, facing his father this time instead of the little camera. “See? I told you he would handle it. So don’t get so worked up about it.” Tony smiled, walking over towards his son and putting his hands on top of his shoulders. “I’m not!” Peter said, defending himself. Tony hummed as he urged the boy to get up. “We should call it a day. You’ve done good, kiddo.” Tony said proudly, Peter chewed his lip a little before letting go. “Alright.” He said. “Will you go to bed too?” Peter asked, looking at the time. It was indeed getting late already.
“I am an adult. You are a growing teenager. You need all the sleep you can get, so don’t worry about me. Now go, Pete.” Tony said, gently pushing Peter out of the lab. “Wow! I’ll tell mom you’re kicking me out.” Peter grinned. Tony rolled his eyes. “Make sure to give contextual clues like the day and time. She’ll agree with me. Off to bed you go!” Tony said, personally seeing Peter out of the lab. “Goodnight Underoos!” Tony yelled, Peter waved goodbye as he stepped back into the elevator, letting FRIDAY take him back to their floor. A big yawn escaped his mouth, and he was just glad it happened in the elevator, far away from his father’s prying eyes.
As Peter got himself ready for bed, he packed his backpack for tomorrow. In there, he slipped a flashlight, his video camera, the prototype glasses that were still in the third stage of development, and a special bracelet he had been working on. Because, as much as all of the adults around him advised him not to, Peter just had to get a move on. Someone had to look out for the little guy, even if that someone was a little guy himself. He zipped his backpack close, and silently slipped into bed. His regular glasses placed neatly on his bedside table. Because tomorrow, he would collect more evidence for his investigation in order to prove that just leaving it to the government wasn’t enough. Sometimes, you had to get out there and get your hands dirty. Peter soon fell into a dreamless sleep.